Buffalo-Green Bay: Bills Disappear in Second Half
The Buffalo Bills trailed the Green Bay Packers 13-7 at halftime Sunday. If you would have told me that this would be the halftime score earlier in the week, I would have liked our chances to pull out a win. If you would have told me that the Packers mighty offense had gained a total of 11 yards in the entire second quarter, I would have been ecstatic knowing that our defense was truly rested coming in to the second half.
If you would have also told me that Clay Matthews would be attaching himself to Trent Edwards' jersey throughout the game, I would have believed that as well. The picture on this slide happened far too often for the Bills' liking.
The second half was about as bad a half as the Bills can play. Two turnovers, no points scored, and three touchdowns allowed by the defense. The Bills now fall to 0-2, and travel to Foxboro to face the New England Patriots next Sunday.
Bills Won the Second Quarter and That Was All They Won
1 of 10
Green Bay has as high-powered an offense as any team in the NFL. But it was The Bills who were able to control the clock, and keep their offense on the field during the second quarter. Green Bay was limited to just 11 yards of offense, which consisted of one three-and-out drive, and one play before halftime.
While the Bills' offense scored its only touchdown of the day via a Fred Jackson rush, they only managed to pick up seven points for the entire quarter. My problem with that was since they were down 13-7, there did not appear much sense of urgency in the final two minutes of the half. Rather than making plays down the field to try to score and take the lead at the half, they seemed content to just grind out the first half and kill the clock, as if that was the best way to beat Green Bay.
This tactic did allow the teams to finish with basically dead even final statistics in a couple of key areas. The Bills ran 54 plays to the Packers 56, and the Bills held the ball 29 minutes to the Packers 31 minutes. Nearly identical. What both teams did with their plays however is an entirely different matter.
Packers Had Three Players the Bills Could Not Control
2 of 10
There were three Green Bay Packers that played a huge role in the game, and the Bills had no answer seemingly for the three of them. They were linebacker Clay Matthews III, quarterback Aaron Rogers, and tight end Jermichael Finley.
Matthews recorded three sacks for the second straight week. He wrecked havoc on Trent Edwards all day, and two of his sacks went for a loss of 12 yards or more. The Bills were thought to be going to various formations of maximum pass protection to counter Matthews, but that simply wasn't the case as Matthews frequently found very little resistance against the Bills front-line to find a vulnerable Edwards ripe for the taking.
Food For Thought: The Bills drafted Aaron Maybin with the 11th pick in 2009. Green Bay waited until the 26th pick to select Matthews. I wonder how the fortunes of the two teams would be changed if those selections were somehow reversed? Maybin did register one tackle Sunday, for what it is worth.
Aaron Rogers had all day to throw the ball. The Bills were unable to dial up any kind of exotic defensive schemes that allowed them to put heat on Rogers all day. There was one play in the first quarter where Rogers delivered a pass just before he was hit, and outside of that he was left alone in the pocket to wait for receivers to get open, which they did, to the tune of 255 yards passing on the day.
Rogers had to endure 50 sacks in 2009, but the Bills managed to come up with none for the day. Not only that, but Rogers twice had key scrambles where he was easily able to avoid the rush from the linemen and run the ball for key gains in the red zone, one resulting in a touchdown.
The third key Packers player was tight end Jermichael Finley. Four receptions good for 103 yards. I can't recall specifically the last time a tight end caught passes for more than 100 yards in a game against the Bills, but the Bills had no answer for him all day. He beat linebackers and safeties, was left wide open, and used his size and speed to generate big chunks of yardage on his catches. Finley is emerging as an All-Pro caliber tight end for some time to come.
Do the Bills Pull the Plug on Trent Edwards?
3 of 10
I know for a fact that there is a contingent of Bills fans that are adamant that Trent Edwards can't be judged fairly due to the poor pass protection he is receiving from his offensive line. To a certain degree, I can't fault their logic.
But there are certain elements of a top-flight quarterback that are completely beyond the scope of Trent Edwards' talents. Like faking a pass to get the onrushing defender to leave his feet to jump up, then you simply go around him while he is in the air, and then you make your throw. That is what I would refer to as being a playmaker, or creating something out of nothing. Trent Edwards is void of any playmaking skills.
Numerous times early in this 2010 season, Edwards will drop back in the pocket and then he just seems to stand still. His feet come to a stop. He is scanning the field and we can only imagine what is going on inside of his brain. If there is pressure around him, which sometimes there is and sometimes is not (but in his mind he thinks there is), so he feels the need to abandon the pocket and roll out.
Whenever he rolls out, you can almost predict the play will go for an incomplete pass out of bounds. That is another attribute of a top quarterback that Trent lacks: being able to be creative and make plays by using his legs.
Edwards was intercepted twice yesterday, and neither one was truly his fault. Steven Johnson let a pass go through his hands and the deflection went straight to a Packer, who picked up the gift turnover. The second pick was the result of Roscoe Parrish getting stripped of the ball.
One touchdown for two straight games is not enough to win in the NFL. Can a change to either Ryan Fitzpatrick or Brian Brohm be that far away?
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
What Happened to Throwing the Ball Deep 3-4 Times a Game?
4 of 10
After the opening loss against Miami, Chan Gailey said in his presser that he likes to go deep at least three or four times a game. Whenever Trent Edwards did that against the Dolphins, it seemed to work well. That philosophy was either forgotten, or Gailey decided to abandon it due to lack of pass protection to allow a long pass play to develop.
The only time that the Bills attempted a long pass was to Lee Evans, and Charles Woodson was beaten badly on the play, and decided it was better to grab Evans and not give up a long touchdown. That pass to Evans was the only time the Bills threw the ball to him all day, as he was completely ignored the rest of the game. It should be noted that Woodson has been suffering from a toe injury and missed two practices in the week, but the Bills didn't feel it was wise to go after him with Evans.
The Bills wanted to be known as a power rushing team, and at least yesterday they rushed the ball 32 times, as opposed to only 22 pass attempts. As long as the Bills continue to post such meager passing yardage week in and week out, defenses will continue to creep up to the line of scrimmage, making it harder for the running game to be effective.
The Ball Bounced Green Bay's Way: No Turnovers Again for Bills Defense
5 of 10
As we have already sighted, both Green Bay interceptions were really not Trent Edwards' fault. But, the Packers could have easily had two turnovers of their own. On consecutive drives that ranged from late in the third quarter to early in the fourth quarter, the Packers fumbled the ball in Bills territory. Each time Green Bay retained possession, and scored a touchdown on the following play.
Late in the third quarter, James Jones fumbled after catching a pass out in the flat on the Bills five-yard line. Brandon Jackson happened to have the ball fumbled directly back to where he was standing, and he dove on it at the nine-yard line. Rogers scored on a scramble on the next play. If the ball was bouncing the Bills way, it would have resulted in somebody scooping up the loose ball and running it back 95 yards. That would have cut the lead down to 20-14. Instead it became 27-7.
On the next drive, John Kuhn rushed the ball down to the Bills 30. Before he was tackled, he fumbled the ball, but it bounced right back up to him. Next snap, Rogers hit James Jones for a 30-yard touchdown, and the Packers sealed the deal at 34-7.
The ball is not bouncing the Bills way this year yet. That has got to change.
Marshawn Lynch Was the Starter and Featured Running Back Today
6 of 10
While the Bills started out the Miami game throwing the ball, they came out intending to run the ball against the Packers. Marshawn Lynch was in the starting lineup along with fullback Corey McIntyre. That was a clear change from last week, when Trent Edwards opened in the shotgun with Fred Jackson and C.J. Spiller flanking him.
Lynch was the Bills workhorse on the day, as he rushed 17 times for 64 yards. His longest gainer went for 14 yards. Most of his runs resulted in smaller yardage, but he did have some effective runs as well. Since we don't know what the brain trust at One Bills Drive is thinking most of the time, it is difficult to say if this game was an attempt to get Lynch going, or served as a showcase game for a potential trade opportunity. Possibly a little of both?
Fred Jackson had some effective runs as well, as he picked up 39 yards on nine carries. His longest rush went for 11 yards, and he had a three-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.
C.J. Spiller was relegated to third-string back, and picked up three yards on one rush. The preseason darling for NFL Rookie of the Year has been relegated to third down back. Another ROY candidate Ryan Matthews was hurt in his game, while Travis Best continues to shine for the Detroit Lions in the early going.
Overall, the Bills gained 124 yards rushing, but they were going up against a banged up Packers defensive line. The Bills are still experimenting with how to get the most out of three running backs, but are yet to find a winning combination.
Where's C.J.? Have You Seen Him?
7 of 10
Based on the ease of C.J. Spiller's touchdowns in the preseason, Bills fans couldn't wait for the regular season to start. Surely after two weeks we would have seen some long touchdowns that were highlight reel material, right? Something happened on the way to the forum however.
It appeared in Week 1, that C.J. was over anxious and was not patient enough to let his blockers open up a hole before committing to where he wanted to run. As a result, he was not asked to carry the ball except for one meaningless attempt on Sunday. His touches came from kickoff returns, and catching swing or screen passes.
For the day, C.J. averaged 29 yards on six kick off returns, with a long of 41 yards. He also caught four passes for 23 yards, with a long of seven yards. Several times today it appeared that if C.J. would have made one additional cut that he could have really had a major lane to run in, especially during his longest kick return.
There was one memorable play as the Bills were killing the clock at the end of the first half, when they faced a third down and six. The Bills came out in a spread offense, and C.J. was lined up in the slot for the first time that I recall. Nobody on the Packers lined up opposite of him, so he was sitting there wide open and Edwards decided to pass instead to somebody that was covered and the pass was dropped.
C.J. didn't seem to do very much to alert Edwards to the fact that he was unchecked by waiving his arms or jumping up or down. Chalk it up to inexperience, but the failure to find him that wide open was just one more play that highlighted the overall frustration of the Bills offense.
How Did Chan Gailey's Back To Basics Week Work Out?
8 of 10
After Miami dropped the Bills in the season opener, head coach Chan Gailey blamed himself and said that he might have been guilty of trying to put in too much for the offense to digest and thus overwhelming them. As a result, he was going to go back to basics during the week of practice leading up to the Green Bay game.
So, how did the back to basics approach work out? The Bills were able to convert on four of 12 third down opportunities. The Bills had 14 first downs, compared to the Packers 18, which is not that wide of a margin.
The Offense did not appear to have much creativity today, as the only exotic play was a Roscoe Parrish reverse, which resulted in a first down. The Bills never tried the two-minute offense, which worked so effectively against Miami. They also have not featured C.J. Spiller in the slot, as Gailey hinted they would do.
For someone that is renowned for creating plays to take advantage of players' specific skills, Gailey appears to be at a loss for what plays to draw up for this Bills team right now.
The Bills generated only 186 net yards on offense, while Green Bay picked up 346. That is a wide margin, and tells a better story of how the game actually turned out.
After yesterday's game, Gailey said that it is his job to fix things and that he would have to make some more adjustments. He also said that he had hoped they would have been able to have some answers sooner than this, but that it would take longer to figure out what to do, and that he would diligently continue to work at it.
At least Gailey is not alone in not having all of the answers. At 0-2 to start out the season, the Bills have the same record as Dallas, Minnesota, Cleveland, Carolina, Detroit, and St. Louis. San Francisco has yet to play its Week 2 game as of this writing, and the 49ers haven't won yet either.
Outside Of Andy Levitre The Bills Seemed To Escape Major Injuries Again
9 of 10
The Bills lost Andy Levitre to injury in the first half, and he was replaced by rookie Cordaro Howard. Levitre did not return, and there was no real update to report on the severity of Levitre's injury at the time this went to press.
At this time last year, the Bills had suffered a number of season-ending injuries to starters, so in that regard the team appears to be in better shape.
From a complete roster standpoint, the Bills saw a return to action for Reggie Torbor. Paul Posluszny sat this game out as he gets over his injury from Week 1.
Bills inactives for Week 2 were Cary Harris, Paul Posluszny, Antonio Coleman, Kraig Urbik, Ed Wang, Alex Carrington, John McCargo, and Brian Brohm.
Facing The Patriots in Foxboro Is Up Next For Bills
10 of 10
If the Bills are to end their losing streak to begin the 2010 season, they need to play with a greater sense of urgency. Would like to see some more aggressive play calling, and for them to look to stretch the field with more deep passes than we witnessed in Green Bay.
The defense will continue to bend but not break. The Bills will continue to learn how to play the 3-4, but it is sometimes painful to watch when Chris Kelsay and Andra Davis are matched up against wide receivers or faster tight ends.
During yesterday's telecast, a statistic was flashed on the screen that the Bills have the longest current streak in the NFL of 55 games without a QB passing for over 300 yards in a game. The last Bills QB to do it was J.P. Losman. I have a hard time picturing any of the current quarterbacks on the roster ending that streak.
The offense will continue to struggle until Chan Gailey finds more answers. If Gailey has seen enough of Trent's lack of decisiveness in pulling the trigger, it may be that he has a shorter leash with him in New England. The real question we want to ask is how entrenched is Edwards as the starter, and how deep of a hole is Chan Gailey willing to let the 2010 season become before he makes some changes to try to save the season and the team's level of confidence?
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
.png?w=480)
.jpg?w=600 "Post-June 1 Trade Candidates ☎️")
.JPG?w=600 "TO Talks Cowboys Relationship")
.jpg?w=600 "Taylor Heinicke Retiring")
.jpg?w=600 "49ers OC Hypes Mike Evans 🤩")